What mail forwarding service do you use while you are gone? I’m looking for something to either forward the mail to, a letter opening and scanning service, or what ever the best to use for long periods away from home.
This is a problem faced by full time RV’ers who are away for months at a time too. And they have plenty of discussions of this issue listed on the various RV message boards. And lots of work around’s if you do not have a house with a street address as that be a major issue for bank accounts etc where a residential address is required to verify.
I’ve read a lot of positive feed back on this service in Florida
I’ve been very happy with St. Brendans Isle. They’re a great mail service, but also a politically influential champion for their members’ FL residency rights.
South Dakota is a state with some similarities to Florida in ease of seting up residency, no state income tax, remail services exist there, and it is supposed to be quite easy to get a concealed carry permit.
Beyond that, there is a diverse climate (pending where you live there)
and a lot of scenic beauty.
I understand you can go into the state and stay one night in a motel and the next day when you check out you can go to the courthouse to apply for an operators license and show the motel receipt as a proof of residency. There is a lot more about this in various RV websites and message boards.
In time I intend to sell my river front house here on the Ohio river and on the months I’m off (work 6 off 6) I’ll travel some in my converted Van (which has bed and kitchenette) and I’ll have a membership to Planet Fitness to use for Gym, Showers/shaving, recharge of Cell, Mp3 and such.
I haven’t purchased a trailer to convert yet but I think that will only happen if I’m west of the Mississippi. But this way of life with a Florida or South Dakota residency & remail service would free me property to maintain, pay taxes on, insurances on, neighbors I may not care much for, and live a more minimal life where the things I own don’t wind up owning me.
The Van is mine and the Trailer pictured is a friends.
This is a website I put together to show the basics of putting a travel
rig together. Van & Trailer.
A friend of mine who was all over the world when in the Navy says it’s the next best thing to being an Expat.
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I did the van thing for a short time. Between marriages, I moved out of a pricey high rise apartment on the beach (literaly) after buying a 30’ Newport sloop and lived on it for about a year. It had been raced hard and put away wet so I got it for a song; I knew I could pay it off quickly so I put the purchase on a credit card.
I was working part time as a marine coordinator on film projects and my work schedule was unpredictable. Some days, work was close enough to the marina that I could commute in my 12’ tender.
A life style worth paying $300 a month for a boat slip. The close quarters made me relate to astronauts or divers living in a pod where everything is an arm’s length away. The bonus was waking up and having coffee in the cockpit while watching dolphins catching their breakfast with hopeful seagulls circling overhead.
As a wandering sailor, I adjusted to it very easily.
Moral of the story: If you’re single and live in an apartment, get a move on.
We could start a thread called “Alternate Lifestyles of the Wet and Weary”.
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this intrigued me so I went here:
to check it out. Scrolling to the bottom of that page, it appears to me that this one night in a hotel provision only applies to those RENEWING a SD license.
Still a good deal, but to get your initial license, you have to provide the same documents most states require.
So that has changed then. I remember a lot of RV’ers in the past talking about doing that. I’m in Ohio and haven’t visited SD. I don’t know if there are any work around’s to establish residency in short order or not.
Youtube video of SD Remail
A couple of friends used SD for quite a few years. He’s retired from MEBA and sold their home in Portland ME. They moved into a Fifth Wheel and once parked, they flew to SD and set up their residency. All they needed was a receipt showing they sent the night in SD and sign a form saying that they were considering living in SD at some time in the future. When renewing, a receipt from a RV Park was all needed. They have since purchased a trailer (Park Model) in a Snowbird Park here in Central FL and became FL Residents. They are here for the winter months then they travel the rest of the time in their Truck Camper.
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Allright, I’m in…my license (Texas) expires in Jan. and I’ve been looking at the best (aka, cheapest) way to get a license in a tax free state. Once I get to port and have cell service, I’m gonna give these folks a call. South Dakota here I come I guess…
Texas is also a 0 tax state, no? Some RVers avoid it because of the yearly vehicle inspection requirements.
Florida is also a good option, no state income tax and it’s saltier than SD.
Plus you can refer to yourself as a “Florida Man” and that carries quite a bit of panache around the country nowadays. 
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I moved my license to FL about two days after the “Florida Man” stuff started online and got razzed by the extended family for many weeks. 
It is, but I don’t live there anymore. I sold all my earthly possessions and moved overseas in 2013. So for me, the thing about only having to be physically present 1 day every 5 years is absolutely just what I’m looking for.